The highlight of today was an evening baking party at Suee's place, to celebrate their new Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer- a beautiful piece of machinery that comes with a wonderful color recipe book that had us drooling (the recipes were convincing enough that Suee decided to make a few selections for the Inaugural Ball...like a cheese ball coated in pecans!!..more on that as Jan 20 approaches) =D
The bread was surprisingly easy. I was going to proof the yeast (put in warm bowl of water with sugar and salt till it becomes frothy) and do the traditional baking process, but Suee Introduced me to the wonders of the bread machine. I poured everything (white and wheat flour, salt, sugar, yeast, oil, and warm water) into the bread machine and set the dough cycle. Then I proceeded to dine on cheese fondue with baguette and apple slices, risotto, mashed potatoes, and pork chops.. and of course, wine.
The meal is surprisingly natural, with the fondue (made by Lindsey) coming from real Gruyere and Swiss cheese with white wine and the mashed potatoes (Suee) having only butter milk and salt. The pork chops (Tad) were simmered in mushroom gravy from a can, which was my only real cheat for dinner. But they were delicious!! I couldnt refuse... the gravy was from whole foods, but it is designed to be shelf stable so I am sure something unnatural is going on.. but I refuse to be bogged down with perfectionism. The rest of the meal was perfectly natural.. and compared to fast food almost anything is great. Plus it was delicious.
After our long dinner in which I finished my HUGE plate (kind of a no-no, since I'm supposed to stop when I feel full) and had a few glasses of wine, the bread was a giant puff ball in the bread machine. The recipe I used suggested letting it rise longer and then baking it in a conventional oven for a more fluffy loaf.. so thats what I did. The baking was easy, 30 mins at 350 degrees. It was wonderful!! Pictures will come as I use the bread (yay sandwiches and egg and toast and other delectable goods I've been missing)
One more development from Day 3-- I want to join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). I am doing my research and am trying to decide what kind of package I want (20 weeks with home delivery? 26 weeks and pickup at a local site? summer only? herb bouquet addition?).. any input for CSA's in the Northern Virginia Area would be greatly appreciated. So far I've checked out localharvest.org and http://www.buylocalvirginia.org/bfbl/index.php, although the latter has very little in NoVa outside of Loudon County.
The bread was surprisingly easy. I was going to proof the yeast (put in warm bowl of water with sugar and salt till it becomes frothy) and do the traditional baking process, but Suee Introduced me to the wonders of the bread machine. I poured everything (white and wheat flour, salt, sugar, yeast, oil, and warm water) into the bread machine and set the dough cycle. Then I proceeded to dine on cheese fondue with baguette and apple slices, risotto, mashed potatoes, and pork chops.. and of course, wine.
The meal is surprisingly natural, with the fondue (made by Lindsey) coming from real Gruyere and Swiss cheese with white wine and the mashed potatoes (Suee) having only butter milk and salt. The pork chops (Tad) were simmered in mushroom gravy from a can, which was my only real cheat for dinner. But they were delicious!! I couldnt refuse... the gravy was from whole foods, but it is designed to be shelf stable so I am sure something unnatural is going on.. but I refuse to be bogged down with perfectionism. The rest of the meal was perfectly natural.. and compared to fast food almost anything is great. Plus it was delicious.
After our long dinner in which I finished my HUGE plate (kind of a no-no, since I'm supposed to stop when I feel full) and had a few glasses of wine, the bread was a giant puff ball in the bread machine. The recipe I used suggested letting it rise longer and then baking it in a conventional oven for a more fluffy loaf.. so thats what I did. The baking was easy, 30 mins at 350 degrees. It was wonderful!! Pictures will come as I use the bread (yay sandwiches and egg and toast and other delectable goods I've been missing)
One more development from Day 3-- I want to join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). I am doing my research and am trying to decide what kind of package I want (20 weeks with home delivery? 26 weeks and pickup at a local site? summer only? herb bouquet addition?).. any input for CSA's in the Northern Virginia Area would be greatly appreciated. So far I've checked out localharvest.org and http://www.buylocalvirginia.org/bfbl/index.php, although the latter has very little in NoVa outside of Loudon County.
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you left your loaf at my house! no worries tho, I'll deliver it back to you :-)
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